Safety and Family Violence
Staying Safe
How to create a safety plan
How to create a safety plan
Separation is a stressful time. This can be a time when some family members abuse others - even when there has been no history of family violence.
You are in the most danger at the end of a relationship, even after you are physically out of the situation. Take care of yourself and the people you love.
Consider whether you need to create a safety plan to help you and your loved ones stay safe from family violence.
How to create a safety plan
How to create a safety plan
How to create a safety plan
Here are some resources for helping you to create a plan to keep you and your loved ones safe.
- Community Legal Education Ontario has an online guide for making a plan: https://www.cleo.on.ca/wp-content/uploads/plan-1.pdf
- Ottawa Victim Services will work with you if you have been affected by crime or sudden tragedy in the Ottawa area: https://ovs-svo.com/support-programs-for-victims-of-crime-and-tragedy/
- Victim Services of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry will help you in the south east corner of Ontario (Cornwall, Alexandria): https://vsv-sdga.ca/
- Victim Services Renfrew County will help you in the Pembroke area: https://www.victimservicesrenfrewcounty.ca/home.php
Where to get help
What is family violence?
What is family violence?
- Unsafe at Home Ottawa is a secure text and online chat service for women and members of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in Ottawa and Lanark County who may be living through increased violence and abuse at home https://unsafeathomeottawa.ca/#about
- Interval House of Ottawa is a shelter for women that also provides advice and referrals https://www.intervalhouseottawa.org
- Lanark County Interval House offers emergency and on-going programs for women and children living in and escaping domestic violence https://lcih.org/
- Maison Baldwin House in Cornwall offers safe spaces and services to women and female-identifying individuals who are victims of domestic violence or human trafficking https://www.baldwinhouse.ca/
- Safe Pet Ontario helps people escape violence by providing a safe haven for the animals they love https://www.safepet.ca
What is family violence?
What is family violence?
What is family violence?
Here is how the Divorce Act defines it
family violence means any conduct, whether or not the conduct constitutes a criminal offence, by a family member towards another family member, that is violent or threatening or that constitutes a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour or that causes that other family member to fear for their own safety or for that of another person — and in the case of a child, the direct or indirect exposure to such conduct — and includes
- (a) physical abuse, including forced confinement but excluding the use of reasonable force to protect themselves or another person;
- (b) sexual abuse;
- (c) threats to kill or cause bodily harm to any person;
- (d) harassment, including stalking;
- (e) the failure to provide the necessaries of life;
- (f) psychological abuse;
- (g) financial abuse;
- (h) threats to kill or harm an animal or damage property; and
- (i) the killing or harming of an animal or the damaging of property